


To the other side of the mountains

by fowo



Series: The Uncle-verse [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, a convenient dishwasher, a weird nondescript timeline, and old Japanese folk song, for the purpose of this fic Shadow is Casey and April's biological daughter, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fowo/pseuds/fowo
Summary: There's a new addition to the family, and sooner or later, Raphael will have to learn to deal with it.This is the story of how that happened.
Series: The Uncle-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015585
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	To the other side of the mountains

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HamsterMasterSamster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HamsterMasterSamster/gifts).



> I am happily child free and that will never change, but there's too many pictures of me nursing my baby nieces to pretend that I don't have a soft somewhere in my black, old, cynical heart.
> 
> I am also a ssssuuuckkker for the "emotionally unavailable guy gets very mushy about tiny person" trope because I have issues, apparently.
> 
> I would say that this is 110% self indulgent fluff (which it IS) but as a matter of fact, this is a gift for Hamster, because we're the only people caring about Shadow Jones in the year 2020. Thank you for enabling all my feels. <3

April was New York born and raised, and she said she wanted her child to be able to see nature. So it really wasn't a surprise that the newlyweds decided to pack up and move to the farmhouse in Northampton.

The turtles were in favor of their newest addition to the family having a big garden to play in of course; all of them remembered that they had more often than not wished they could have played in one. For them, it hadn't been possible—but it could be for the baby.

The realization that it meant that April and Casey would move away from New York hit everyone only as an afterthought. 

"But," said Mikey, holding on to Klunk in his arms for comfort, "we'll get to see you, right?"

"Of course, Mikey," said April gently, wrapping an arm around him and tugging him against her side. He went willingly, although at the same time, he seemed always so cautious around her since her belly had started growing. Hard to say if this was coming from a place of reverence or the idea that reproduction was a bit icky if you thought too much about it.

"We can load up the Battle Shell and visit," Donatello agreed. He didn't seem quite as heartbroken as the rest; but he and April had always been in close contact anyway. They could talk for hours on the phone and geek out together. 

"I'm gonna miss you guys," said Leo, with a soft melancholy in his eyes that made it seem a bit as if they were gone already, and not just talking about it. "But it's probably best for the baby to grow up where there's lots of space."

"Yes," said Master Splinter. The idea that he was going to be a grandfather was endlessly exciting to him. April thought ever since she and Casey had told their mutant family that they were going to be parents, he started to mother her—in the best way possible. He was positively midwifeish. He had herbal remedies and teas for just about anything that ailed her. Most of the time, the teas tasted awful, and April was glad to have access to her actual _human_ midwife who actually had birthed children of her own and had not just picked them off the floor. It was cute to see the old rat so excited, though. He was getting old, but the news of a grandchild had put a new fire back into his eyes.

"But we will visit," Splinter promised, patting Michelangelo on the arm. "I do not wish to miss the little one's first achievements."

April chuckled a little, laying her hands on her belly. "One would think that after bringing up four boys, you'd have had enough of babies and toddlers for a lifetime," she said.

"Ah, but April," Splinter said, with a glint of good humor in his dark eyes. "This time it's not mine."

***

Casey and April asked her doctors not to reveal their little one's gender to them so as to not build up any expectations, but Michelangelo kept insisting it would be a girl. When asked why he was so sure, he said, "Because Casey needs to be a Dad for a little girl. Duh?"

The reasoning wasn't entirely scientific, Donatello kept reminding him gently, but when they finally got the frantic call from the hospital, Casey on the other end yelled, "It's a girl! It's a beautiful baby girl! Mike was right!"

"Of course I was," Mikey said sagely. "A maid of honor knows these things."

The turtles grabbed their Dad and their stuff and drove upstate to be with the new parents. All four of the boys learned very quickly how much work a newborn was. The little girl wanted a bottle every few hours, and a diaper change usually right after. Mikey was quick and eager to learn, even though he complained the loudest about the full diapers, probably louder than the little girl herself. He loved giving her the bottle though, eyes big and round as he watched her nurse eagerly, cradled safely in the nook of his arm.

Leonardo surprised April when he looked a little like he wanted one of his own every time he held the baby, pensive and a little hesitant as if he tried not to lose his composure. April liked watching him because it was scarce to see Leonardo let his guard down like this. There was no question of his unending affection and loyalty to any of his family members, but maybe there was something about the fact that other than his little brothers, the baby truly needed someone to look out for her. Leonardo, in the end, liked to be needed.

Though April had named the little girl after her late mother, the name that seemed to stick was Leonardo's invention as well: Finding him playing with her, softly covering her face with her muslin cloth and asking her sweetly where 'his little shadow' had gone, only to discover her over and over again underneath it, was too cute to let him live it down—and the nickname stuck around. 

Unsurprisingly, the two remaining brothers were a bit more reluctant. Donatello was curious and wanted to be close and liked watching her, delighting in when he could track her developments and milestones. But it was scarce that he wanted to hold her, let alone feed her. When asked, he chuckled airily, and said quickly, rough hands raised defensively, "Better leave the living things to Mikey."

Everyone knew that Raphael was too scared to allow himself to show how much he cared for the little new addition to their family. He kept his distance.

He was an adult now. It was his decision. Nobody was going to force him at this point. As it were, April and Casey were too busy with their child to worry about him.

Raphael hadn't held his niece in his arms once when the turtles and their father packed their things back into the Battle Shell and drove home to New York a week later.

***

The turtles were busy keeping New York safe, and the Joneses were busy bringing up a little baby girl. Mikey and Splinter would have probably moved to Northampton if given the opportunity, but as it were, the Foot were worrying them with recent activities. Nobody dared to be gone for long, and as the months came and went, it happened more often than not that only one or two brothers at a time came to visit. 

Casey was an excellent dad, caring and dedicated and sweet, but he clearly missed being in the fray. He also understood April's concern of what would happen if he did. Nobody ever actually said anything out loud, but the implication was clear, and though Casey's mask and equipment were waiting to be used, they were only sitting in the attic.

April's qualification made it easy for her to work remotely from home part-time and still make quite a bit of money. Casey applied for a couple of minimum wage jobs, hoping one would stick. If anything around the house needed fixing, Don would drive over to help. If Casey and April truly needed to be somewhere, a vast array of babysitters were at their disposal.

Mikey painted the nursery with rainbows and unicorns and dinosaurs and kittens and some questionable mixtures in between.

They made do.

***

It was the first cold week of autumn. The trees around the farmhouse had turned golden, and April kept the windows closed again. She was looking forward to using the fireplace soon. The next time Mikey would come over, she would have marshmallows stocked for him. 

April was in the living room with Shadow, giving her her bottle when she heard the throttle of Casey's motorcycle pull into the driveway. Confused, she checked her watch; she hadn't expected him home from work for another three hours. She was immediately worried that something might have happened, but with Shadow nursing in her arm, she stopped herself from jumping to her feet and hurrying to the front porch. 

To her surprise, instead of her husband coming in through the front door, a moment later, there was a soft knock on the back door next to her. When April got up to brush the curtain aside (smartly employing her elbow), a dark green shape loomed in the dusk outside.

She was honestly startled. Raphael hadn't announced himself prior, hadn't called ahead, nothing. He was just there. And wasn't it the most in-character thing for him to do?

"Hey, Raph," she said, hoping her voice carried through the door. "I kind of have my arms full at the moment, you can let yourself in." He raised her daughter and the bottle she was still holding a little to let him see through the window. 

There was a flash of white teeth in the dark that told her of Raph's grin. A locked door was no real challenge for a ninja turtle, after all.

Raph opened the door without any trouble, and if April hadn't known it was locked, she wouldn't have been able to spot the difference. 

"I didn't expect you," she said as Raph closed the door softly behind himself. He carried his helmet under one arm and had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. A few years ago he had started to wear leather jackets; old, worn out things that he dug out god knows where but that fit over the dome of his shell and that looked like they had already survived a few motorcycle accidents. He patched the rips and tears with patient hands and wore them proudly, no matter how often Leonardo rolled his eyes over what he called "bad guy" fashion. 

"Me neither," Raphael said with a shrug. "Mikey wanted to come, but Leo recruited him for a mission."

"And you didn't beg him to switch?" asked April good-naturedly. "I would have thought you'd prefer a mission over sitting here watching me made stupid faces at my daughter."

"Yeah, well," said Raph awkwardly, looking to the side. "Maybe Leo had somethin' to do with that, too."

"Of course he did," April said with a smile. "Well, I'm happy you're here. I can't hug you, so you'll have to hug me."

He grunted, but it sounded a little fond, and he walked up to her to wrap an arm around her, wary of the little cargo she was still carrying in her arms, and gave her a careful squeeze. Before April could truly lean into him, he backed away again, sniffed, and gestured with his helmet as if to say, _Better put this away._

April let him escape into the hallway. "There's beer in the fridge," she called to him as she sat herself back down on the couch, looking down at her daughter who had just about finished her bottle. Raph made an excited happy _oooh_ from the hallway because both he and Casey liked this very niche, specific craft beer from a local brewery and Casey wasn't here to tell him not to drink it all. 

"Where's Case?" asked Raph from the kitchen. From the sound of it, either to make himself useful or because he felt too bashful to return just yet, he was loading and starting the dishwasher.

"At work, I hope," said April with a chuckle. "He won't be here before nine."

"Oh," said Raph. He came back into the living room, carrying a bottle of beer. Without the jacket, he looked younger—but maybe that was just memories. April smiled warmly at him as he sat himself down on the armchair and carefully nursed his drink. "'s he still do the supermarket gig?"

"Yes," said April. "He's doing well, too." She chuckled a little. "The old ladies in town like him. Good to have a strong young man around, they say. He gets very flustered. It's very cute."

Raph snorted. It made a dull little note in the neck of the bottle. He drank another slow pull.

April, in turn, put her daughter's little bottle away and wiped some excess formula away from her mouth. She put her muslin cloth over her shoulder, and carefully placed Shadow upright against herself, rocking her a little.

Shadow warbled a little, spitting a bit of milk. She yawned.

"You're tired now, aren't you, baby, hm?" asked April softly, gently caressing over Shadow's tiny back. "We'll go to bed soon."

Raph eyed the clock. "This early?"

"She's full and warm now," said April affectionately, nuzzling her nose into the soft wisps of hair on Shadow's head. "But she'll probably wake up in a couple of hours or so and want another bottle. She's not exactly the age to grant us a full eight hours of sleep yet."

"Hrn," said Raph. He remembered that first week of constant newborn baby care. Divided between two parents, four uncles (however reluctantly some of them were; the other two made up for it with even more enthusiasm) and a grandfather, Shadow had been very well cared for. Raph imagined it was harder when it was just the two of them, and both were working. 

"Do you want to help me put her to bed?" asked April as she stood up.

Raph froze, bottle halfway to his mouth. "Uh," he said eloquently. "Help? Help how?"

"Just come with me and watch, Raph," April laughed. "She's not gonna bite your head off. She doesn’t have teeth yet."

She didn't press him though. She just turned, rocking her baby and humming softly as she walked up the stairs to the bedrooms.

When she reached the nursery, she heard soft footsteps follow hesitantly on the creaky stairs. 

Not drawing any attention to it, April said easily, "I'm gonna change her into her jammies and then we can see about boring her until she falls asleep."

Raph stood, carefully, in the doorway. He leaned against the old frame with one shoulder, seemingly nonchalant and easy with his arms crossed in front of his plastron. He scoffed a little at her remark. "I'm a ninja turtle, April," he said. "I don't know if 'boring' is in my repertoire."

"We'll see about that," said April as she changed Shadow from one onesie to another—from blue daisies to yellow cartoon taxis. Shadow kept yawning, flailing her arms in uncoordinated attempts to wipe her eyes. "Aww, yes you are tired, aren't you," April murmured affectionately. "It's alright, sweetie, Mommy and Uncle Raph will put you to sleep now."

As if she understood, Shadow turned her head, looking at Raphael. He froze a little where he stood, and then, arms still crossed, lifted one hand a little for a reluctant little wave. 

Shadow kicked her legs and gummed on her fingers. Now that she had realized there was a turtle in her vicinity, he seemed to be the most exciting thing she'd seen all day. 

"Did you spot your Uncle Raph?" April asked sweetly and gathered her freshly redressed daughter up into her arms again. "He came aaall the way from New York just to see you."

"Rah," said Shadow. She patted her flat palms on April's shoulder, and then yawned again. 

"That's right, Rah," April chuckled, carrying her daughter to the crib in the corner of the room. "If that's going to be your first word, Mommy's gonna be upset, sweetie."

"It's just a syllable," muttered Raph from the door. 

"True, but so is Ma and Da," said April. She put Shadow down, who tucked her short little arms and legs toward her body, staring up at the mobile overhead. April gave it a flick to make it swing. Shadow flailed her arms at it. "Casey keeps insisting she's calling him Daddy already, but in all honesty, she's still a bit too young to call anything anything."

Raph scoffed. When April put on a nightlight and sat down in an armchair next to the crib, he finally stepped over the threshold of the nursery. April held one arm into the crib for her daughter to hold onto and was singing softly to her.

Raph watched for a moment, creeping ever closer until his hip was leaned against the backrest of the chair by April's side. 

"'s that really a thing; you sing until she passes out?" he asked. 

"Shh," April chuckled, when Shadow's tired eyes sprang open again to track whoever had been speaking. 

Raph flinched a little. "Sorry," he said, voice lowered. 

"It's alright," said April softly, because it was. He was making an effort. It had taken him almost half a year to rake up his courage to be near his niece. 

"I think it's mostly the idea that someone's there to watch over you when you fall asleep," she continued. "You know? So you don't feel small and all alone in the world."

Raph didn't reply, but she could sense how he tensed behind her. 

"Leo always sings her a lullaby that she really likes," said April. "But I don't know what it's called."

Raph scoffed softly. "Twinkle twinkle little star?" he said with a bit of humor to his voice.

"No, dummy," said April with a little smile, turning her head toward him. "I think it was Japanese? I didn't understand any of it."

Something in Raph's face changed upon her words. The sardonic humor was suddenly gone. April hesitated. She could tell she was intruding on something cherished and private, something Raph wasn't willing to give up. 

"I'm sorry," she said. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," said Raph quickly. He turned his head away and rubbed at his neck, playing down his discomfort with a brusque shrug. "I think I know what song ya mean. It ain't 'xactly a lullaby though. It's an old folk song."

"Oh," said April. "It sounded lovely though."

"Master Splinter used to sing it to us when we were little." The admission seemed to make Raph a little uncomfortable, like he was embarrassed to have ever been a child himself. He stared at his feet. "I don't know the words though."

"Oh," said April again. “Shame. Shadow really liked it.”

Downstairs, the dishwasher finished its cycle and beeped softly into the silence between them. Shadow murmured, kicking her little legs.

April made a knee-jerk decision. She got up. Raph's careful stance loosened in surprise. 

"I'll check on the dishwasher," she told him, giving him a squeeze on the arm. "Be right back."

"Wh— _April_ ," he said, and he tracked her with his eyes as she left, but he didn't follow. She didn't close the door to the nursery when she left, but she didn't linger in the hallway either. Much as her heart ached to maybe spy the moment that Raph felt unguarded enough to sing a Japanese lullaby to his infant niece, it wasn't going to happen if April tried to eavesdrop. 

So she went downstairs and looked after the dishwasher like she had said. She put the mugs away, and the plates, and the cutlery and the bowls. She gave the sink a quick scrub and filled herself a glass of water that she drank standing in the middle of the kitchen.

Raph hadn't come down. Shadow wasn't crying. So whatever it was these two were doing upstairs, at least it didn't end in disaster. 

April slowly tiptoed back up the stairs. The closer she came to the door to the nursery, the more she knew her patience was gonna be rewarded: She could indeed hear Raphael humming. And maybe he didn't have the best singing voice and sounded a little rusty, but his voice was deep and comforting and a turtle had a lot of lung volume for air. 

Raph's cautious, awkward even, humming stood in no comparison to how easily and certain Leo had sung that very same song softly to his niece, but the idea that someone like Raph, who was always so quick to anger and violence, could be so brittle and insecure when faced with a little human baby was touching something very deep in the bottom of April's heart, and she loved her little red brother fiercely in that moment. 

There was a pause in Raph's soft humming. She'd been heard approaching, then, and the spell was over. 

April took a shaky breath and quickly wiped at her eyes that were wet somehow. She put on a smile and stepped back into the nursery. 

Raph was sitting in the chair. Shadow's nightlight slowly rotated a sky full of stars across the ceiling, but the room was dark. Raph's eyes reflected the light from the hallway at her when he turned his head.

Shadow warbled. Raph grunted softly, turned his head back to her and continued his song where he let off. 

April stepped to Raphael's side and put her arm over his shell. He allowed it. As her eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, she could see that Raphael had reached one hand into the crib, and Shadow held his forefinger in her tiny hand and watched him attentively, seemingly not interested in sleeping anymore at all. 

April bit down on a soft chuckle. Of course it was much more interesting that there was now a new uncle in her life than going to sleep! Who could sleep at a time like this and miss out on the one time occurrence of Raphael being soft with a loved one? Clever girl!

Raph's song ended, and April gave him another squeeze around the shoulders. "I'll take over from here," she whispered. "Go drink your beer."

To her surprise, Raph gently shook his head. "I can sit here for a bit and keep the gremlin company," he said. "You enjoy a few hours of tranquility 'fore yer bonehead of a husband comes home."

April did chuckle, that time. "Alright," she said. "Thank you."

She leaned past him to bring her face close to Shadow's and got a clumsy hand groping at her mouth and nose for her trouble. "Good night, little Shadow," she whispered. "You're in the safest place in the world now with your Uncle Raph."

Shadow cooed at her, and April kissed her tiny palm before retreating. Before he could do anything about it, she had also pressed a quick kiss to Raph's flat head. 

He hunched his shoulders a little, but didn't say anything, and when April carefully tugged the door half-closed behind her as she left, she could hear him murmur, "Alright gremlin, I can sit here and sing fer ya longer than you can stay awake, alright? So don't even try it."

Shadow, of course, didn't answer, and Raph scoffed, a little fondly, and as April went back down the stairs, she could hear the song again, and if this time a few fragmented lyrics in Japanese found their way into the humming, she wasn't going to tell anyone. 

**Author's Note:**

> The song that isn't mentioned by name in this fic (Raphael wouldn't know) is 竹田の子守唄, Lullaby of Takeda. It's a Japanese folk song about a young girl that gets sent away to work for a rich family. As she is babysitting and the baby is crying, she longs for her home. There's some irony here, and I can imagine Leo softly apologizing to Shadow that he doesn't know a song with nicer lyrics. 
> 
> However, historically the song was also claimed by a group of untouchables in Japan, and I think that's very relatable for a family of mutants hiding from society.
> 
> It is hauntingly beautiful. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W2XUrYw0PoA) is my personal favorite version.


End file.
